Chinese Dreams: The Human Face of Changing China

This year's Annual Lecture of the International Institute for Asian Studies will be delivered by Ruben Terlou.

Ruben Terlou (1985) is a documentary filmmaker, photographer and medical doctor. He studied Mandarin in China and Medicine at the University of Amsterdam. He has worked extensively as a photographer in China and Afghanistan, and, with his work, has won several Dutch Silver Camera Awards and the price for Innovative Photojournalism. His real debut, however, was his successful and highly popular six-episode television documentary series Along the Banks of the Yangtze in which he travels upstream along the longest river of Asia. Terlou’s endearing personality, combined with his fluent Chinese, resulted in deeply personal portraits. In 2018, his second documentary series Through the Heart of China received 1.5 million viewers each episode and offered a very intimate view of the human face of contemporary China.

The lecture

In a country where developments take place faster than the population can comprehend and internalise, unusual situations arise in daily life. In his address, titled, Chinese Dreams: The human face of changing China, Terlou will share his thoughts on modern-day China, his personal experiences and his photographs. Most importantly, he shows what fascinates and drives him most: the human condition, the adaptability of the people to the enormous changes taking place, while simultaneously showing how they stay faithful to their culture and all things in which they believe.

Language: English

Programme

The programme will start at 15:00 hrs sharp.Doors are open from 14:00 hrs.

IIAS is a Humanities and Social Sciences institute and knowledge exchange platform based in the Netherlands. It encourages the multidisciplinary study of Asia and initiates programmes that engage Asian and other international partners. IIAS facilitates fellowships, organises conferences and publishes The Newsletter, our free periodical on Asian Studies.

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